Waiting in Estonia...

Visit from Elder Russell M. Nelson

Elders Larsen and Anthony

Our MTC teacher surprise visit!

Podvodov family gave powerful talks!

Vyborg Castle

St Olaf's Castle Where We Do Service Work

Beautiful Vyborg on the Sea of Finland

Vyborg

Misty day in Kaliningrad

Kaliningrad District May 2010

Russian MTC Group

Russian MTC Zone at Provo Temple

03 January 2012

Surprise Christmas Call To My Twin Brother On His Mission!

It was great to hear from all of you on Christmas Day! Weird to think that I will be talking to you in person soon and not have to do it over a phone or through email. Sorry to wake you up on Christmas, ha ha. Bummer I couldn't talk with KB- Doo.

My call to Cody was awesome! He answered the phone and said "Missionaries, this is Elder Larsen," and I started speaking to him in Russian. He didn't understand of course and was really confused and then I couldn't keep back the laugh anymore and then he recognized it was me and yelled in the phone "BLAAKE?!!!" Ha ha ha! It was funny! Just talked a little bit until the phone card ran out, which was only 5 minutes. That's probably what I talked with all of you, right?

Christmas Eve the Clark's invited us over with the AP's and the office elders and we had roast, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, yams, and ice cream with cookies. It has been sooooo long since I've had a meal like that and Sister Clark is an amazing cook. It was all so appreciated! We sang some Christmas Hymns in Russian and read from Luke in the Bible in Russian about Christ's birth. Then we left to go caroling on Nevskiy Prospekt, the busiest street in St. Petersburg and had a lot of success and talked with many people... and had fun doing it! Couldn't have had a better Christmas to end my mission.

Early this week I was on a split with the Zone Leaders and I was with Elder Sherman. We met Grisha and he showed me pictures of his new little girl and bought us dinner! So nice of him! Grisha is a great guy and baby Yevgeniya is a cutie. We also met with a new investigator who was really interested in the Book of Mormon. He really understood the importance of it after he asked why it wasn't already included in the Bible, and exclaimed," YOU NEED TO TELL EVERYONE ABOUT THIS!" We laughed and said,"That's what we are doing."

The v.t. this time was more uneventful than usual as this time, instead of having to wait for our papers we already had them. So we just had to cross the border, get our passports stamped, and came back. We talked a little in the car among everyone, but also took the time to study scriptures and had a large companionship study. Ha ha. It was cool! I told President Clark that Steve C. says hi and he was surprised and happy to hear it. He says that they were best friends growing up in Salt Lake, and would hop the fence to each others house all the time to hang out. It's a small world.

I was on speaker phone when talking with you, but I was on the other side of the apartment. Everyone else was in the kitchen, and they were all talking amongst themselves so I don't think they even heard you. Even if they did, they are really good elders.

I finally got a letter this week that Kelsey sent...for my birthday. I think the Post office here hates me. Ha ha. It takes so long to hear from anyone, and a lot of them get lost on the way here and I never get my mail. Lee will be moving into in the office? That's surprising. Its the smallest room in the house... she is going to have to get rid of a lot of stuff to fit in there! Ha ha. Kidding!

Gotta run! Keep Smiling!

Love, Blake

Note from Tammy~ After many efforts, this post would not fix, so it is what it is.

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"Some days it is definitely work and stressful and requires alot of effort, but those are the greatest opportunities to grow and learn. I've learned the lesson of staying cheerful and optimistic, even when things aren't going exactly as planned." ~ Elder Blake Larsen, in a letter today for Mom. 5 July, 2011

"I hope you can focus on the good in life. Whenever you feel down, IMMEDIATELY count your blessings. Literally say them, count them! All troubles will seem small if you recognize why you have them & how you can use them to better yourself. This is what my mission has taught me so far."~ Elder Blake T. Larsen